Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya - IStories

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Author

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya

Head of IStories data team

Author materials

How does the internal digital system used in Russian elections operate? The vulnerabilities, the issues and the creation process of the new GAS Vybory 2.0 system have been disclosed due to a successful hacker attack on the system’s developer

17 September

Egor Feoktistov, Sonya Savina

Russia’s Digital Elections System Creation and Vulnerabilities Disclosed

Ivan Kirsanov had been working on a surveillance system project for the Russian Federal Security Service. Then he left the country taking a copy of its internal documents archive. Why did he do it and what can we learn from the files?

3 September

Polina Uzhvak, Rina Nikolaeva

Unsafe Connections: the Classified Files Archive and the Philosophy Shared by an FSB Surveillance Project Ex-Developer

In August 2024, two and a half years after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine had begun, the Armed Forces of Ukraine started their incursion operation in Russian Kursk Oblast. Among those guarding the Russian border, most were young conscripts of varying levels of training. IStories and Verstka researched how the conscripts had been drawn into hostilities and how the war affected the survivors

27 August

Egor Feoktistov, Ekaterina Krasotkina

What Happened to Russian Conscripts in Kursk in 2024 — and Afterwards

The Russian state security service — FSB — has been trying to implement AI in its anti-opposition operations for at least two years. IStories investigated how the development of the Pauk (“Spider”) system went — and why it was stopped (at least for now)

15 July

Egor Feoktistov

AI at the (Federal Security) Service

After being released from prisons in Russia, Ukrainian citizens are indefinitely kept in practical captivity. IStories managed to talk to them

20 May

Polina Uzhvak, Rina Nikolaeva

Never-ending Prison

Mathew Dubron wrote a book on the two opposing sides volunteers’ perspectives on war and told IStories about what he saw in both countries

6 April

Sonya Savina, Egor Feoktistov

US Citizen Went to Army Recruitment Offices in Both Moscow and Kyiv

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How Russia Imports Foreign Components and Machinery

Russia has received more than 8 million artillery rounds from the DPRK. An investigation by IStories and the Open Source Centre

16 March

Egor Feoktistov

Inside the Pipeline: How North Korea Armed Russia

Over the past three years, Russia has almost completed the development of a digital registry that can be used for a new and more effective war mobilization campaign, storing data on 25 million citizens who can potentially be drafted. IStories examined the data shared by the hackers who attacked the registry key developer

22 December

Polina Uzhvak, Sonya Savina, Egor Feoktistov, Rina Nikolaeva

What We Learned from a Hacker Attack on the Russian Military Registry Developer

Exclusive

In 2024, Almost a Thousand Women Were Killed in Acts of Domestic Violence in Russia

This represents 47% of all women intentionally murdered in Russia, which is the highest ratio in the last 15 years

In 2024, Almost a Thousand Women Were Killed in Acts of Domestic Violence in Russia

What else can we learn from the Russian court rulings data from the first half of 2025?

21 October

Sonya Savina, Rina Nikolaeva, Polina Uzhvak

Russia Breaks “Treason” Sentences Record, Publishes Data on How Many Criminals Escaped Punishment by Going to War

One in four was killed, went missing, or was wounded. IStories analyzed the full list of those mobilized from Tomsk Oblast and reports on what three years of mobilization have looked like through the lens of a single Russian region

19 September

Sonya Savina, Egor Feoktistov, Polina Uzhvak

Three Years of Mobilization: What One Region — and the Whole Russia — Has Endured

Spending on promoting the Russian language abroad has tripled. This is how Moscow seeks to expand its influence and impose a pro-Russian agenda in other countries, while continuing its military aggression

16 September

Kremlin Has Increased Spending on Expanding Its Network of Loyal Young Leaders, Journalists, and Bloggers Abroad by 1.5 Times

Exclusive

“A Hero Without Limits”

IStories has found dozens of job postings for people with HIV and hepatitis, offering them official contracts with the Ministry of Defense

“A Hero Without Limits”

Exclusive

A Resident of the Oleshky Boarding School, Taken to Russia Against His Will, Has Returned to Ukraine

He spent nearly two years in an institution for people with disabilities, headed by the sister of Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. IStories previously reported on his story

A Resident of the Oleshky Boarding School, Taken to Russia Against His Will, Has Returned to Ukraine

Exclusive

In the Second Quarter of 2025, 37,900 Russians Signed Contracts with the Defense Ministry — 2.5 Times Fewer Than a Year Ago

The pace of contract recruitment has fallen to its lowest in two years

In the Second Quarter of 2025, 37,900 Russians Signed Contracts with the Defense Ministry — 2.5 Times Fewer Than a Year Ago

83% of them were enrolled without taking exams or would not have been admitted without a quota because their scores were below the passing threshold

5 August

Polina Uzhvak, Rina Nikolaeva, Sonya Savina

In 2025, Nearly 3,000 Russian Troops Who Had Fought in Ukraine, and Their Children, Were Admitted to Top Russian Universities Through Quotas. That’s One and a Half Times More Than Last Year

By the end of the year, the pace of contract enlistment has fallen and continues to decline. A research by IStories

30 May

Sonya Savina, Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya

Up to 407 Thousand Russians Signed Contracts with the Defense Ministry in 2024

How many people have deserted the Russian army during the war — an investigation by IStories

20 May

Egor Feoktistov

Under the Weight of Cargo 500

How the son of a CIA deputy director set out to backpack around the world and to save the planet — but ended up in the Russian army and died in the war in Ukraine

25 April

Sonya Savina, Egor Feoktistov

“He Was Forging His Own Hero’s Journey When He Was Tragically Killed in Eastern Europe”

IStories identified 1,500 of them and found out how the recruitment of foreigners works in Moscow

23 April

Sonya Savina, Egor Feoktistov

Mercenaries From at Least 48 Countries Are Participating in the War on Russia’s Side

They offloaded hundreds of thousands of tons of petroleum products onto vessels involved in exporting from Russia in circumvention of sanctions

28 January

At Least 11 Volgoneft Type Tankers Went to Sea With the Same Violations as Those That Sank in December

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The Case of Children Deportation from Ukraine to Russia

The story of the life and death of Oleksandr Yakushchenko, a teenager who was taken from Ukraine to Russia and committed suicide in his foster home

24 December

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya

“He Was Buried in a Day Like a Dog”

Exclusive

Defense Minister Andrei Belousov Said That in 2024, More Than 427 Thousand People Were Recruited for a Contract. Is This True?

IStories explain why this number may be overstated

Defense Minister Andrei Belousov Said That in 2024, More Than 427 Thousand People Were Recruited for a Contract. Is This True?

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The Case of Children Deportation from Ukraine to Russia

Oleshky Specialized Boarding School was one of the best institutions in Ukraine for children with special needs. It is still unknown what happened to some of its residents.

23 October

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya

How the War Destroyed the Orphanage in Oleshky

Exclusive

Judges Versus Migrants

In the first half of 2024, Russian courts fined migrants a record amount and ordered 86,000 foreigners to be expelled from Russia

Judges Versus Migrants

Exclusive

Russia Plans to Recruit at Least 225,000 People on Contract with the Defense Ministry in the Next Three Years

This follows from the draft expenditure budget for 2025–2027

Russia Plans to Recruit at Least 225,000 People on Contract with the Defense Ministry in the Next Three Years

Exclusive

The Pace of Contract Soldier Recruitment in 2024 Has Accelerated by at Least 6 Times Compared to Last Year

This follows from data on federal budget expenditures for one-time payments for the contract signing

The Pace of Contract Soldier Recruitment in 2024 Has Accelerated by at Least 6 Times Compared to Last Year

The Russian army could recruit one and a half times fewer new contract soldiers than the Defense Ministry claims. Are Russians willingly going to war? A research by IStories and CIT

1 August

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Sonya Savina

More Soldiers at All Costs

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The Case of Children Deportation from Ukraine to Russia

Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova and her sister are deporting disabled Ukrainians from occupied territories against their will — an act which may constitute a war crime.

26 April

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Viktoriia Novikova

“Now You Will See How Interesting It is in Russia”

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The Case of Children Deportation from Ukraine to Russia

Hundreds of children who were taken from Donbas to Russia are stuck in the Russian orphan system. An investigation by IStories and Verstka

3 April

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Anna Ryzhkova

“I Want to Go Home”